Megan Terry Named MSU's outstanding Senior Woman in Agriculture

Bullitt East High School teacher Megan Terry returned to her Bullitt County roots with quite an honor.

She was selected Outstanding Woman in Agriculture among her senior class at Murray State University.

“I was incredibly honored by this award,” Terry said. “Being selected was a dream come true. Receiving this award was a goal of mine since I was a freshmen at Murray State.”

To qualify for the award, a student must be selected for Murray State University’s “Who’s Who” which Terry was chosen for in the spring. The Outstanding Woman in Agriculture is then picked from the senior agriculture majors who have shown leadership during their time in college.

While at Murray State, Terry served as President of her sorority (Sigma Alpha Professional Agricultural Sorority), Vice President of Collegiate FFA, and a representative in the Agriculture Leadership Council. She also worked for the National FFA Organization, where she had the opportunity to travel the country, facilitating leadership conferences for high school FFA members.

“I also had countless opportunities at Murray State to help plan and host events for high school agriculture students which helped me further develop my passion for working with young people,” she said.

Terry is a Bullitt County native who returned home to teach Agriculture and serve as the FFA advisor at Bullitt East. She was raised on a cattle farm in Bullitt County.

“My family raises Black Angus cattle and I always loved being outside with my father and grandfather. I became involved in agriculture education when I started high school at Bullitt Central,” she said.

“Most of my early memories with agriculture took place on my farm with my family,” Terry continued. “I went to Cedar Grove Elementary and Bernheim Middle and I felt like our community offered many agriculture opportunities through the county extension programs. At Bullitt Central, I was able to be involved in Animal Science, Horticulture, and even leadership courses through the Agriculture Pathway.”

Terry said Bullitt Central’s Agriculture and FFA program prepared her for the future and instilled within her a passion for agriculture education. She served as the FFA Vice President, and the FFA President the following year. She also had the opportunity to serve the Capital City FFA Region as a Regional Officer.

“Being involved in FFA, also got me involved in the County Farm Bureau. I was awarded a scholarship from Bullitt County Farm Bureau which helped me pursue my agricultural career. I am now able to give back and serve my county farm bureau, just as they have helped me in the past,” she noted.

Terry said Murray State offered her countless opportunities and recommended the university especially if prospective students have chosen a major in agriculture.

“I had so many opportunities to work with high school agriculture students and plan FFA events to service high school agriculture students,” she recalled. “I had numerous hands-on experiences through my courses as well. I had everything from animal science classes where I got to farrow piglets and artificially inseminate cattle to welding and woodworking classes. Every day in my career, I think about various concepts and skills that I learned at Murray State.”

Terry also had the opportunity to work for the National FFA Organization as a facilitator where she traveled the country to facilitate leadership conferences for high school FFA members. She firmly believes that every student (and person) needs to be familiar with agricultural practices.

Combining her fondness for the farm and breakthroughs in agriculture science ultimately led to her to pursue teaching.

“As the daughter of two educators (not to mention a sister, numerous aunts and uncles, and a grandfather), I always knew I would be working in education in some facet,” Terry said. “If you would have asked me at graduation, I had big goals for my future whether in pursuing higher leadership roles within education (principal, superintendent) or focusing on a more political side of the agriculture industry. I still have big dreams and goals for my future but I can honestly say that, at this point in time, there is nothing else that I would rather be doing than building relationships and having positive influences on young people. Being an agriculture teacher and FFA advisor is crazy (and sometimes exhausting) but it is an incredibly fun job and it offers something new every single day.”

Terry is especially excited to put her college education to use in a Bullitt County classroom.

“Being an agricultural education major, I did not think that coming back to Bullitt County to teach would be an option for many years down the road,” she said. “Coming back to Bullitt County has been an absolute dream come true for me. I love the commonwealth and it has so many beautiful regions but Bullitt County will always be home.”

Terry said she loves teaching at Bullitt East and feels very welcome at the school and in the Mt. Washington community.

“Most importantly, I love my students and I am so excited about the agriculture program that we are growing,” she smiled. “Agriculture is the oldest and most important industry in the world and the field needs leaders. The agriculture industry offers a wider range of career choices than it ever has and I want to introduce those opportunities to my students. With each generation, more and more Americans are further away from the farm but that does not mean that agriculture has lost its relevancy, by any means. Knowing where our food comes from and basic agriculture practices will always be important for future generations.”

Terry’s family has been quite involved in education. Her father taught Auto Body Collision Repair & Paint at Southern High School and retired from Jefferson County Public Schools. While he is retired, he works every day between the family farm, masonry work, and auto body work. Her Mom, Penny, just retired from Bullitt County Public Schools where she taught second grade at Cedar Grove Elementary. Her sister, Valerie, teaches English at Bullitt Central High. Youngest baby brother, Matthew... is not in education. He is in his junior year as a mechanical engineering major at Western Kentucky University.

Terry is proud to announce her engagement and marriage to her college sweetheart, Austin, in June of 2019. Austin is also a Bullitt County native and they met at Murray State.

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Bullitt County Public Schools1040 Highway 44 East Shepherdsville, KY 40165